Sleepy Bee 2 

Sleepy Bees

Yesterday evening I decided to cut some flowers to bring inside. After all this 70 to 80 degree weather in OCTOBER isn't going to last forever.

As I cut I suddenly noticed something inside the flowers and immediately thought of some kind of yucky bugs. But on closer examination I found sleeping bees! So I have taken some pictures of them - I am thinking that the cooler evenngs are making them sleepy and as they are bumble bees they don't have a big hive to go home to, so they just sleep where they are. The poor things are going to die with the frosts any way, so I suppose this also saves them flying time in the morning from the queen's home where she will hibernate the winter with the store of food they have helped her build up.

oh dear

Well - we have been ever so busy.

The Old lady's shunt surgery is coming up next week, there is tons of fall clean up stuff to do and the house is a mess. And I don't feel like doing a thing.

I DID put away a big pile of clothing that was obscuring one of the guest beds. And I plan ( HA!) this weekend to do some more.

The Apple Festival is also on this weekend and I am going to give them a few hours on Saturday. Then Sunday I am going to come into work for a number of hours - we'll have to see how energetic I feel.

Banned Books Week

"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it." ~~ Mark Twain

Hey - I just realized it is Banned Books Week September 24–October 1. The American Library Association has bracelets by Carolyn Forsman in Adult and children sizes to commemorate the week. You can get one of each for $25 which isn't bad at all - and they are pretty cool bracelets too! Click on the picture for a link to more info and to order a bracelet.


Banned Book Bracelets 

Check out this cool thing - OrganicHTML. Enter a website and see what kind of plant grows - This is mine.

Red Cross not allowed in New Orleans by Homeland Security

I read this Diary on DailyKo last night and woke up this morning with it on my mind. It is unbelieveable but go there and read all the comments.

Red Cross NEVER allowed into New Orleans. by SteveRose

And now do a search through Google News for Red Cross and find this:
Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

and this from the Peoria Journal Star:
Red Cross helps out despite setbacks, Relief teams not allowed into New Orleans

and here is the FAQ about it from the Red Cross site itself:
Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans

and couple that with the story about Homeland security not allowing Canadian aid into the country in the first couple of days of the husrricane and you have to say WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! (Can't find story right now will post link when I find)

This story needs to spread and spread and spread - So if you stumble on this and have a blog of your own - please post about it - Just a title with some links to these stories is helpful. And send the story onto your local paper - Lets raise the outrage here.

Thank you.

Please Donate to New Orleans

CLick the picture to donate. Please, they are desperate!

Donate to Hurricane Relief 

Nero

It occurred to me last night that Bush was like Nero - playing while a city died. And then this morning I see this picture of Bush playing a guitar yesterday after his visit to Naval Base Coronado. Could it get anymore obvious that this man cares about nothing but his own pleasure? and that the word decorum is not in his vocabulary.


Bush Fiddles while New Orleans drowns 

Strange dreams

I had a dream last night that my sister was insistent about having a baby and that the reason she hadn't was infertility - so in order to have one she had become Born Again so that god would make her fertile and was trying to convert me too. At the same time she had also started to smoke Crack and was trying to make me do it too. She passed me a pipe and I was trying to throw it away when I woke up. Pretty strange, eh?

In reality though - she is a Step-Grandmother : wha ha ha! Old lady.

Look where we're going tomorrow!

Yup, that's right the Saratoga Races.

Racing 

I think it is going to be fun. I never particularly wanted to go myself but the old lady did - so now I am taking her just to make her depressed and Ken is coming along too. I have been perusing their web site I think it will be more fun than I thought. With 8 or 9 races and a dollar a bet you can have a little excitement too.

The drive from Vermont looks lovely along the Battenkill most of the way. The weather is supposed to be great and this will mean a three day weekend!

Too bad we can't stay the night because look at the cool stuff going on tomorrow because it is the Traver Stakes Festival:

FRIDAY, Aug. 26

The Travers Wine Tasting. The National Museum of Racing, Saratoga Springs. Wine and food tasting of 200 upscale wines and food provided by five area restaurants. Live auction and jazz band. Proceeds benefit the Senior Services of Albany Foundation. Must be 21 or older to participate in the wine tasting. 7 p.m. - 10 p.m., tickets $100 per person. Contact: 388-9240.

8th Annual Battle of the Brews. Saratoga Race Course. 12 Noon - 5 p.m. Microbrew Festival with sampling available to those 21 and older. Tickets $20. Proceeds benefit the American Red Cross Adirondack Saratoga Chapter. Contact: 745-7345.

Upbeat on the Roof. Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery roof-top, Saratoga Springs. Doc Scanlon's Rhythm Boys. Come on up for some swing music and dance the night away! Free. 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Contact: 580-8080.

More Bird Flu

There are a couple of reasons I am interested in the Bird Flu - one is that I have an elderly mother who I would really not like ot see die of something that should be preventable or lessened by proper planning. The second reason is that I raise chickens for fun - I was actually thinking about the fact that maybe I will need to have them put down. So I started to look at what prevention methods other countries are taking and I saw that Germany or Holland (sorry lost the article now) was requiring all chickens be kept indoors to cut down on the risk of infection from sick wild birds.

So I started to look and see if there are any drugs for chickens that might be given ahead of time to protect a flock and I found this: Bird Flu Drug Rendered Useless, Chinese Chickens Given Medication Made for Humans That's right - "China's use of the drug amantadine, which violated international livestock guidelines, was widespread years before China acknowledged any infection of its poultry, according to pharmaceutical company executives and veterinarians." So " International researchers now conclude that this is why the drug will no longer protect people in case of a worldwide bird flu epidemic."
Excellent eh?

This means more than ever prevention is necessary. So people, if you stumble by here take the threat seriously and get ready. I am.

and lest you think I am a nut go and read this Bird flu: we're all going to die

Bird FLu

I admit it - I started this blog as a way to keep track of my knitting and daily life. Well (I say along with you) HA! What knitting - what daily life. I don't know - everything happens to me so quickly that by the time I am ready to write something the event I want to write about is weeks over - I mean look - I never finished my post on the fair even though I have been thinking about it - and suddenly we are 4 weeks away from the fair and it seems ridiculous now to even bother. And knitting - what knitting? I can't even finish the one pair of socks I started as a test case - just to see how this pattern came out and what my guage was like. I am pathetic.

On the other hand I am trying to use my little corner of the Internets to pass on things I think are important and this is a case in point --
The Bird Flu. There is a fine line between preparedness and paranoia - and I think that this line when it comes to the Bird Flu is far off from what most of us are doing and thinking.

So I encourage everyone to check out the FluWiki and seriously start thinking about those people in your family at risk. The old, the young, the infirm. Those of us who have jobs that take us into contact with many people.

While the Health headlines in the US seem to be focusing on Stem Cells and drug company news take a look at what is going on in the rest of the world:

Germany acts to prevent spread of bird flu

GPs to get drill for bird flu pandemic (UK)

Stockpiling of drug urged in fight against bird flu (Asia)

Good heavens! The Bahama Journal has a huge two part series about Bird Flu- The Next Pandemic

Anyway - if you happen by - take a look at the FLuWiki - think about how your community is going to be able to handle an outbreak and do what you can to bring this subject to a more prominent position.

CIndy Sheehan

This woman really moves me. Can you imagine the courage that it take to keep following Bush and standing out in the hot sun day after day. Just to get a simple answer from the man. You go, Cindy!

In a few days my friend's son leaves for Iraq - it is going to be so hard for her. So what can we all do? Well - how about going to Cindy's site and downloading and printing out the large size of the picture above? CLick on the picture for a link. Put it in your car window and show your support for the troops and your lack of support for the war that way.

Remember - Peace is Patriotic!

New Fire pit ready to go... 

Sweet Email

Look what my little sugar pie emailed me this morning:

I had a great weekend, it was relaxing and interesting too
Cleaning things is always fun
A nice lunch out w/drive
2 Dead Like Me episodes
Steak dinner w/ potato salad
Leftover pizza from Rick’s
Napping w/you too
Even channel surfing on the couch

Thanks baby…you are the best

It was a lovely quiet weekend!

I accomplished three out of my five self assigned tasks:
*Clean Kitchen to make it easy for new florr to be installed - DONE!
* Buy stuff for the old lady's orchids and plant the orchid cactus cuttings we got at the Spiral Shop - DONE!
*Build a Fire Pit - DONE! (pictures to follow)
*Pick out pictures of me, poopyface and the old lady to have printed - not done
*Pull together and organize all my Fair stuff to make it easy to pass along - not done

The Big Gig

Whoo hoo- I have been waiting for this for weeks! We are going to the Big Gig in Westminster West this afternoon and listening to music and watching people and just relaxing.

http://www.westwestfest.info/

I just realized that you can use Hello to post text to your blog. Interesting and easy!

Latoyia Figueroa, non-white woman missing

August 20th : Update You probably know now that Latoyia Figueroa was found dead. Poor woman - just another vitim of men's foolish desire to get rid of their own children.


From South Philly:

Twenty-four-year-old Latoyia Figueroa is 5 months pregnant. She was last seen one week ago, at a doctor's appointment. Police told Action News on Monday afternoon that they have not received any tips in the case, and that Figueroa's bank cards and cell phone have not been used.

If you've seen Latoyia Figueroa- please call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-3183.

Pregnant Woman Still Missing

Philadelphia Woman Still Missing...Where Is CNN's Round The Clock Coverage?

Missing Pregnant 25 YO Mother Alert (Non-White Division)

Google Latoyia Figueroa

Fair Day 2

Didn't have time to post yesterday morning and last night I was too exhausted to write. So here we are at Day 2, 5:08 a.m.

Not bad yesterday - although it had it's morning. I won't be unhappy never to see those Fair Queen people again, I'll say that.

The Entertainment was all great. Dan Grady and his puppets. Girl Howdy too.

We got done pretty early considering.

Anyway I have to get going so perhaps - although not likely I will write tonight. Only about 15 hours to go including clena up!

Dirty

Well I am covered with dust and dirt from the field. Karen and I got the parking all lined out and then used the big tractor to put out the garbage barrels. I got to drive the BIG tractor with the front end loader for that. Which was fun but after the 5th load of barrels, the need to muscle the damned things around counteracted the fun of driving the tractor.

Anyhow I am home to shower the dirt off - my feet are black, but the polish is still looking fine! Then it is wait for Ken to get out of work and then back up to the field.


Dirty feet!